See you Soon
by xxlovver
Summary: They watched their friends run away from their own wedding ceremony leaving the two partners standing at the alter awkwardly. "What do we do now?" Well that was the question of the century. Staged after 2x21 - this is a completely au take of season 3 and on wards.
1. The First 12

Taking place at the end of season 2 and completely AU from there on out, this is a wild idea that came to mind after the episode and will follow an extremely AU story with important cases and whatnot canon playing throughout.

Chapter One || The first 12 hours

_Set after Stargazer in a Puddle 2x21_

Clothes were thrown around the room as two bodies lay in a heap of sheets on the floor having fallen off the bed beside them nearly two hours ago but not caring to move back to it. She laid on top of him with her head on his shoulder trying to catch her breath after another round of sex, the smell of arousal and scotch still surrounding them as she kissed his skin and slowly moved off of him.

"Where are you going?" Booth asked his eyes opening to look at her with his forehead scrunched from the lack of warmth that was disappearing.

"I'm starving plus we can't lay on this floor anymore, Booth, you have a bad back." Bones said with a smile as she reached for the top sheet and wrapped it around her as she stood. "I trust you have food right?"

Before she could make it out of the room two arms were around her as Booth attached his lips to her neck causing her to laugh. "Booth I am serious we need to eat it's been.." She looked at the clock surprised that it was nearly 5am, they had been at it all night. "It's been a long time since we've eaten and no the scotch did not count."

"I don't want to let you go." He mumbled against her neck clearly not letting go as she took a step forward and he just followed right behind her his arms still firmly around her waist. By the time she had reached the kitchen she had turned in his arms, her arms around his neck as he pressed her against the counter.

"My wife." Booth murmured against her lips only pulling back slightly enough to rest his forehead against hers. "Never letting _my wife_ go."

She hummed as she cupped his cheek with her hand sighing completely aware of how his words hit her differently than they did 12 hours ago. "At what point do we talk about that?"

"Never." Booth said as he stood up straight and moved to make some coffee. "Never because I know what's going to come out of your mouth and I'm not ready for it." She opened her mouth and he shook his head raising his pointer finger in the air at her.

"24 hours, I want 24 hours of this and then we'll talk. Deal?"

"Deal." She nodded knowing very well it would be worth every hour of those 24 before it all came crashing down.

_\- 12 hours earlier -_

It had been one of the strangest weeks to date. From the return of her father, his message to her, and finally the arrest of him by Booth - to the entire situation with Zach and the Military, Temperance Breenan was not surprised that Angela and Hodgin's wedding was another twist in the road. As the bride and groom ran out the door leaving she and Booth standing in front of the minister, she looked at her partner confused. "What do we do now?"

The guests slowly started to awkwardly leave the venue making their way to the paid for reception leaving a still frozen Booth and Bones at the center staring at each other. "We could get married." Booth joked causing Breenan's mouth to drop trying to find the right words to say

"I'm kidding, I know you don't believe in marriage or monogamy or even love. We're just standing here like a bride and groom so I had to say it." Booth said quickly not helping the million thoughts running through her mind. Her dad had just been arrested for murder, her brother was on the run and she was just as alone in the world as she was before the two men came back into her life.

Her thoughts went back to when Booth told her that there was more to family than just her blood relatives and she had believed him. There was so much more that makes a family and she truly had one in those around her. She smiled at her partner taking him in as she finally noticed the bruising on his face from the altercation with her father before his arrest. She had known it was hard for him to arrest Max, but it was his job and she was happy that he had been the one to do it and not someone else. Max was safe behind bars and perhaps would be able to actually follow the law in jail and not get himself or anyone else into trouble.

"Bones?" Booth said bringing her out of her thoughts and realizing she had been staring at him the entire time she simply nodded.

"Let's do it." The words left her mouth sending shock through both of them and Booth was positive there was a gas leak or something in the air.

"Wait, what?" He asked as the minister chuckled to herself causing Booth to glare at her and take ahold of Bone's arm to bring her to a pew to sit down. "Are you okay? Were you guys drinking before the ceremony?" He questioned. "I honestly was joking, you don't believe in marriage."

"I believe in you and as irrational as it seems, for once in my life I want to do and not think about it." Temperance stated slowly as it all became real to her what she had said. There was no going back now, well there was but she was tired and sad and honestly it just seemed thrilling to not use logic to make a decision.

They both looked at each other and back at the minister and at each other again. This was stupid really stupid but she took the chance and kissed him for the first time since the Gemma Arrington case when they had first met.

"It's paid for, let's do it." She insisted as she brought him to his feet before walking back over to center stage.

"This is crazy, Bones. You're insane, what has gotten into you?" He asked and she shrugged.

"Do you want to do it or not?" She asked and he blew out a breath as he put his head in his hands before nodding.

"What the hell." And just like that they were married and signing papers like it was nothing. The ceremony was minutes long, a repetition of vows and common words and while it was probably the dumbest thing she had ever done, and she was positive she needed to be medically examined. Temperance Breenan kissed Seeley Booth when he was instructed to kiss the bride and for some reason it didn't feel all that wrong.


	2. The Next 24

Thank you for the reviews! This is more of a fluffy filler chapter before the inevitable happens in chapter three. Enjoy!

Chapter Two || The next 24

She found a sexual relationship with Booth to be as satisfying as she had predicted it to be. They're chemistry was more exquisite in the bedroom as it was in the field and she knew that they were only going to become more compatible with each other the more they got to know each other personally.

There was just a small hitch in the situation, and that was the million steps they had skipped from partners to husband and wife. Her lack of impulse control was frightening and Temperance found herself lost in her thoughts trying to come up with a logical reason as to why she had married him.

"In the case of simple cause and effect, I saw that my father was arrested and my brother being on the run and decided that -" She was cut off with lips on hers and she hummed as Booth pushed her against the couch.

"24 hours, you promised." He mumbled his bare skin against hers causing a fire to brew within her. "I still have 18 hours left." He added as he looked at the clock. They had spent the last six hours enjoying breakfast and then collapsing on the couch in sexual arousal where they had stayed, a movie she had never heard of being ignored in favor of one another.

She sighed at his statement and nodded. "Fine, but note that by that time I will have an entire speech prepared and you will listen to every bit of it. Also you will be dressed, I find that my ability to form appropriate sentences lesson when I look at you in the nude."

"Sounds like you're speaking just fine to me." Booth smirked as he kissed her collarbone just wanting to continue taking her in for as long as possible.

He wasn't entirely sure what he was thinking when he asked her to marry him like that, never in his life had he done something so impulsive but he knew it was meant to be. He had known since he met her that day at American University that fate was bringing them together, he just hadn't known exactly what that meant at that point in time.

Bones didn't believe in love or marriage, the two very things he believed in more than anything. They were complete opposites in that aspect and many others yet there they were married on a whim and it terrified him that the second he let her talk they would be divorced as quickly as it began.

"Booth? Did you fall asleep on me?" She asked making him chuckle from his position with his lips still on her shoulder.

"Was just thinking." Booth answered as he moved back to her lips, his arms wrapped around her tightly.

"You just said we weren't allowed to do that." She teased him making him grin as he took in her beauty. He may not know what all of this meant but he really felt like the luckiest guy in the world having her in his arms. She was his best friend, the person he would kill and die for and that felt like enough for him.

"Okay, we can think but we can't talk about it." He reasoned watching her roll her eyes at him and he chuckled. Sitting up he let go of the hold he had on her and stretched before making his way to the bedroom and finding his boxers and a shirt for her to slip on. "I'm going to order lunch. Wong Foos sound good?"

He was already hitting speed dial by the time she had answered, the sight of her swimming in his shirt making his mouth water as he quickly turned her attention from her so he could put in their usual order.

It wasn't long after their food arrived and they had eaten that Booth and Brennan had found themselves back into his bed. "You know if you wanted to have intercourse with me, all you had to do was say so. We didn't have to dive into absurdity and get married first. It's not like either of us are virgins."

"Hey! We promised, no talking about the 'M' word for 24 hours and I still have plenty of time." Booth pouted.

"Okay, I am sorry. You should just know that while I do not believe in psychology, I am sure that Gordan Gordan has a good explanation for this or better yet possible an MRI may be beneficial." Bones stated making Booth groan and put his pillow over his head.

"Come on, Bones, don't ruin things here. We're in a bubble, don't pop it, I want to stay in it for as long as possible." He knew before he even finished the sentence that she was confused and it made him smile as he removed the pillow from his face. "It's a figure of speech, just let us have fun for a little while longer. Okay?" He pleaded.

"Well if you insist." She said with a smile before rolling on top of him. "I suppose I can let it be for now."


	3. Reality

Chapter Three || Reality

Temperance Breenan was woken by her phone ringing and blindly picked it up to an operator on the other line asking for her to accept a collect call from Max Keenan. Accepting the call she sat up in bed ignoring Booth's persistence to hold her.

"Yes, Dad?" She asked watching as her words alerted the man beside her. "No. I don't know. Maybe." Sinking back into the bed she curled up into Booth and rolled her eyes. "We'll see. I got to go. Goodbye, Dad."

"That was Max?" Booth asked and she nodded before kissing him good morning.

"He wants me to come see him, but I'm not sure that's a good idea." There was a number of things she wasn't ready for and seeing her dad in jail was one of them. Booth sat up in the bed, pulling her with him until she was settled in his arms. Their declared 24 hours were over but neither of them felt the need to talk about things just yet. Instead they took the morning in before another phone call disrupted their comfortable silence. This time it was Booth's phone.

"We have a body." He declared once the call had ended and sure enough Cam was calling her moments later. "Yes, I know we'll be there." She stated before wincing as Cam asked how she knew at such an early hour. Booth smirked at her and she silently swatted at him. "Booth sent me a text just as you called, he's picking me up." Temperance lied before hanging up and glaring at him. "What?"

"I didn't say anything, but I have to say I'm shocked that you were the first one to crack. I was for sure it would be me to spill the beans." He teased.

"While I don't understand what you said, I assure you I didn't crack anything or spill the beans, whatever that means." She licked her lips and looked over at him. "Booth, we can't tell people. Not when we don't even know that this is going to last." Moving from the bed she began to find what little belongings she had knowing that going home to change would have to be a quick event that she really didn't have time for. "I really should have went home for clothes." She mumbled not realizing he was standing behind her.

"What do you mean that we don't know if this is going to last?" He asked and she sighed at him not knowing what to say or what to do now.

"Let's just talk about this later, okay? I need to get home so we can get to the crime scene. Will you take me or should I call a cab?" She asked watching as he put a suit on silently as she put on the sweatpants and shirt of his she had worn during the small times they had been dressed the last couple of days. When he ushered her out without another word she knew he was upset. This was the very thing she had been wanting to talk about since the beginning that he wanted to avoid and now that the timing was up she knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

Booth dropped her off at her apartment and made an excuse to go get them coffee, not wanting to intrude as she go ready to go see the remains. Mostly he just didn't want to be alone with her any longer, no when he knew that the second she had a chance she was going to ask for an annulment or he supposed a divorce was the appropriate action. While there was a lot of things he defied his religion by doing, divorce had never been on the list of possibilities and now his mind was going to the inevitable and he was starting to figure out why he had let this happen to begin with. What the hell were they thinking by getting married? What was she thinking when she said that they should do it? The hell did he think was going to happen when he agreed?

Slamming his hand against the steering wheel he parked the suv outside her building waiting for her to climb in. "Coffee." He mumbled as he handed her the to go cup before hitting the gas to drive off.

"Booth." Her hand was on his arm as he drove and he looked over at her nervous expression and he couldn't stop himself from smiling gently at her.

"It's okay, we'll talk about it later. Right now we work and pretend that nothing has changed between us." He knew that they could stay professional, he didn't doubt that but he still couldn't shake the mood he was in from his own thoughts.

The scene involved two teenagers who had been brutally slaughtered, the sight made Booth's stomach turn as he took down the little information Bones had for him before following her instructions on getting the remains back to the lab. The case proved to be a challenge to investigate and was a welcomed distraction by the issue at hand for the two partners. By the time the case was over, Booth had forgotten that they were married. That was until he was laying in his bed alone with Bones at her own place and he realized that wasn't what married couples did. Then again he wasn't quite sure where they fit in the ideal of marriage.

It was after midnight when he knocked at her door, unable to sleep and refusing to do so until the nagging feeling went away. She opened the door looking beautiful as ever in her sleepy disarray. "Booth? What are you doing here." She asked as he pushed passed her his hand running through his hair nervously. All he wanted was an answer and he was hoping she would be willing to give it to him.

"Do you want a divorce?" He finally asked after a long staredown between the two, him out of nervousness and her out of tiredness. "Because I know that you don't believe in marriage and while I knew what we did was a mistake when we did it, it felt like we were in this together and now I don't know -" Booth stopped when he saw her facial expression go from confused and sleepy to distraught and sad. "Bones?"

She blinked at him processing his words, her hyper-rationalism going into overdrive. "You think it was a mistake?" Of course he did. It was told to her time and time again that Booth would do anything for her so it made sense that when she asked to get married that he would say yes despite his own wants and needs.

It was a fair question that he was asking, one that she hadn't quite figured out yet. She never once in her life did anything without weighing the pros and cons yet somewhere for some reason she did this. If she wasn't so against psychology she'd talk to Gordon Gordon. She just hadn't thought he would be the one coming to the conclusion of their marriage being a mistake and it hurt to hear. Perhaps that was the answer she was looking for in her quest for clarity, one of them to come clean about their true feelings.

"I wasn't aware that you saw our life partnership to be a mistake, I welcome you saying so now instead of later." She began not letting him interrupt her when he clearly wanted to she put her hand up to stop him. "While I hadn't decided what I wanted to do regarding our relationship, I hadn't decided on divorce. There has been a lot on my mind regarding the situation and I was finding that while I have never believed in marriage that idea of linking myself to you for the ideal of forever was actually quite nice." Closing her eyes she prevented tears from falling and looked at her partner.

"If you wish to have a divorce, drawing up papers would be quite easy." Temperance stated as she adjusted the robe around her still looking at a now speechless Booth. "Since you now know your answer, I'd like to go back to bed. I take it you can see yourself out and lock up." With that she turned on her heal and headed towards her bedroom leaving a stunned Booth standing in the middle of her living room.

"Wait, what?" He said. "Bones?" Booth yelled at the sound of a door clicking shut trying to decide if he should follow her or not. This was not how he wanted the conversation to go nor was he expecting the response he received. Yet it felt like it spoke volumes that her logic hit him so soundly.

Was it him that wanted an out and not her?


	4. Gaining Insight

Chapter Four || Why did I decide to name chapters aka Gaining Insight

It took Booth two minutes of standing in her living room before fully processing the conversation and deciding to make his way to her bedroom. He knocked twice before letting himself in seeing her laying on her back staring at the ceiling with her arms crossed. "Bones." She looked so sad and it broke his heart as he gently sat at the end of the bed.

"It's fine Booth, I understand that athropologistcally speaking the male hormones tend to be the reasoning behind a lot of decisions instead of the logical part of the brain. In the shock of Hodgins and Angela not getting married and our intimate hug regarding my father, both you and I were not in the correct headspace when theoretically left at the altar." She sat up and looked at him, tears in her eyes, causing him to move closer to her but stopping when she turned away from him.

"So when we were in the position of those that were to get married, perhaps my own female hormones acted in asking you to marry me and your male hormones reacted as most would. It's quite fascinating when I think about it, that we became an anomaly that I've always loved to study. However, while I have had my own doubts and many of conversations in my mind I never saw it as a mistake."

A mistake, the words again hit him like a brick and he mentally kicked himself for saying it. "Bones, I didn't mean it that way." Booth said softly trying to explain it but really he didn't have the answers. He hadn't figured out what all of this meant yet. All he knew was that spending thirty-six hours with her just the two of them had been the best hours of his life.

"I suppose I meant it as, that's not how marriage is supposed to happen you know?" Of course she didn't but he continued anyways. "Marriage happens after two people have been in a relationship for a long time and love and trust each other and it seems like a logical step. To decide to commit to each other on paper and to the world to be together forever."

He looked at her unsure if he had dug himself into a bigger hole or not and was surprised to find her looking at him again. "So when I said it was a mistake to get married, I guess I just meant that it wasn't how I imagined getting married." Booth realized that his breakdown still defined his words as a mistake and sighed ducking his head.

"Marriage is an obscene archival notion promoting the ownership of a woman by a man." She said softly unable to quite find her words or her voice. "However, by your definition I can see parallels between your words and our life together. We have been partners for years who trust each other, we've almost became more than just partners when we first met and as Angela has put it we have been dancing around each other since we met. By your definition except for being in a romantic relationship we actually took a logical step in our partnership by getting married. The only - the only thing missing is the feeling of love. Which is just brain chemicals reacting with each other but a valid feeling that I suppose comes when you trust someone with your life. As I do with you."

She took a breath and shrugged as she played with the tie of her rope. "I suppose what I am saying is that rationally speaking the idea of marriage doesn't make sense to me but being with you does." Shaking her head she felt frustrated and even more confused than before.

"You once told me there was a line that shouldn't be crossed. Do you still feel that way? Is that why you said it was a mistake?" Temperance asked finally looking at Booth to try and grasp his thoughts, but as usual, she had no idea how to read him.

"It wasn't a mistake." Booth finally stated in a soft tone that she almost didn't recognize as his voice. "There is a line but it's not about about whether or not it should be crossed but the consequences of it being crossed. Neither of us thought about the consequences."

Moving towards him on the bed, she took his hand and looked at him with questions in her eyes. "But it wasn't a mistake?" She questioned again feeling somewhat relieved amongst her confusion when he shook his head.

"Bones, nothing I have ever done with you has been a mistake. This isn't going to be the start of it. We just have to figure out what to do next. I don't know what to do next." It wasn't like Booth to let his guard down and not be one step ahead of things, neither of them were prone to not having a plan. She figured there was a first for everything, and they were definitely going through many firsts together recently.

"We -" She paused as she gathered her thoughts but stopped when she had nothing to say. "We don't tell people and take the time we need to figure out what we want?" Booth said continuing her sentence. "We go back to our lives just as they were despite making a leap into a romantic relationship and see what makes sense to us." He suggested and while she had no idea what that meant for them she agreed.


	5. Baby Steps

Chapter Five || Babysteps

It was a week of quiet between the two of them. No case meant that they didn't have a reason professionally to see each other and personally they were avoiding each other at all costs. Booth was doing a pretty good job at wallowing in self misery in his office when Caroline Julian waltzed in with a worried look on her face. "Seeley Booth, we need to talk." She said sternly causing him to remove his feet from their previous position on his desk and sit up straight as the door was closed behind her and a piece of paper was laid on her desk. "Would you like to explain this?"

Staring down at his marriage certificate Booth's face went white as he looked at the prosecutor. "How did you get this? Who else knows?" He asked simply as his and Bones' signatures sent a pang through his heart.

"My question is how you expected me to not get ahold of this or what you were thinking of marrying your scientist partner! Like everything that goes on in you peoples lives, I find out about it. Now tell me what you're doing about it." She asked as Booth glared at her.

"What do you mean what I'm going to do about it? There are no rules against me and Bones being together, she's contracted not an agent. Besides, we don't exactly have an answer right now. It just sort of happened, we weren't planning it." He took Caroline's lack of comeback as a small win in what could have been a bigger blow up as he took the piece of paper and locked it in his desk. "Look, Caroline. We don't know what we're going to do yet. Can this be kept quiet? It's not exactly something I want out when I don't even know what we're doing yet."

The quiet of the prosecutor didn't last long "You don't know what you're doing? This is not like you Booth, you're judgement is better than this and if you think that getting married is something you can just sweep under the rug from the world you're probably right but you can't just pretend with her. I've never seen a partnership like you two's, and married or not I'd hate to see you mess that up."

Once she had walked out the door, Booth went back to his previous self pity before getting the certificate back out of the desk and sighing before picking up his phone to make a call. "Bones? Will you go out with me tonight? Yeah like a date. Perfect, see you soon." If they were going to figure things out between them they certainly had to start somewhere.

Temperance ran around her apartment as the clock struck seven and their was of course a very punctual knock on the door. She hated being that girl, but when she was nervous or wanted to look perfect she sometimes ran a little behind. Putting down the necklace she had been fighting with on the counter she opened the door with a smile. "Hey, I uh, come in." Booth clad in a handsome suit handed her a bouquet of daisies and daffodils chuckled at her.

"Now this is a first." He teased causing her to glare at him as she took the flowers and placed them in a vase before picking up her stubborn necklace once again. "Will you put this on me?" She asked with a smile. "I'm almost ready, promise. I apologize for my delay." Once the necklace was clasped she felt his hand linger along the base of her neck before removing it.

Once she was fully ready, she found her coat and smiled at her date. Having him ask her out had been a surprise to say the least but she found herself looking forward to seeing him all day. They hadn't spoken since the night in her apartment and while still conflicted she had been eager to see him.

He still had a smirk on his face regarding her tardiness and rolled her eyes at him as they made their way out to his suv and she easily found herself comfortable. "Where are we going?" She asked causing a chuckle from the driving seat. "If I were to tell you that it wouldn't be a surprise or a date now would it?"

Her anticipation grew stronger as he drove them just out of the city to a hole in the wall restaurant she had never heard of before. They were seated in a cozy corner in the back where a reservation plate sat on top of a well put together table made just for them. It was obvious that Booth had called in ahead of time to make sure things were perfect and she smiled at the gesture as they sat down.

"I must say I was surprised when you called, we haven't exactly spoken this week." Not that she blamed him for not wanting to make contact with her and probably him with her, but it was still nice that he had taken the initiative after their last conversation. "Does this mean you've made a decision regarding us?" She asked knowing it was premature to ask in their date but her nerves were getting the best of here.

He seemed like he was holding his breath as he leaned forward towards her. "I figured that we can't decide if we don't try." He murmured and she nodded in return. Her longing to be with him hadn't changed over the past week nor did her desire to stay married despite her feelings on it being barbaric. She had already considered calling Gordon Gordon regarding her obvious manic episode but didn't want to bring someone close to the both of them into it.

They were into their meal when he told her about Caroline Julian and panic rose through her. "Is the FBI going to sever our partnership?" She asked immediately, their partnership meant everything to her. It was the only stable thing she had ever had in her life. He was the only stable thing in her life.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Depends on what we decide and how they find out about it. If we don't stay married then there is nothing for them to know. There are no rules against contracted partners but I don't know. I don't have a lot of answers, Bones. I just thought you should know that Caroline knows."

She chewed on her lip and stared down at the rest of her meal suddenly not interested in finishing it. He wasn't very optimistic about the two of them as a couple, especially while on a date with her. It was almost as if their roles had flipped. She was the hopeless romantic and he was the one running away from the very thought of love. It hurt and it made for a very bad first date.


	6. The Center

Chapter Six || The Center

With Zack in the middle east, Temperance was sticking to staying in the lab and not going out in the field. She used his absence as an excuse to focus on science and not her estranged partner who was also her husband and the arresting officer on her father's case. Of course the latter was the least of her worries and not one bit of why she was avoiding Booth, but in reality it didn't really help matters.

After their disastrous first date that didn't result in any resolution, she decided to just let things run their course and hope that the end result was near regardless of what it meant for her and Booth.

"_Because, when Hodgins and I ran away from our wedding, we left you and Booth standing at the altar. And that iconic image totally freaked you out." _Angela stated as they stood in her office, Temperance being lectured on her lack of being able to hire a new assistant in Zack's absence. She played it off of not understanding what she meant. "_We'll talk again when you catch up."_

It was like everyone knew that she and Booth were avoiding each other and it was starting to irritate her that not only was she avoiding him but he wasn't avoiding her at all. In fact he was always at the lab trying to get her to go out in the field with him or to lunch and it was as if he had forgotten about the entire situation.

Perhaps that was his entire point in the scenario, to forget about it. So she chose to do the same throughout the case and until Zack made his return.

"_Because you and me, we're the center." _He said as they sat on the cold bench. "_And the center must hold." _She murmured to him as he nodded and asked if they were going to hold his eyes almost pleading for normality between them that she wasn't sure how to answer.

"As partners, yes we're going to hold. We're the center. My question is whether we're going to hold, as us or what we're going to do." She whispered like someone around them were to hear. He sighed and ran a hand down his face.

"I'm trying to figure this out, Bones. The entire idea of use together I want that so much, but we jumped about a million steps and I guess I'm still shaken by how we just did it without thinking you know?" He murmured.

She turned towards him and smiled, trying to find a way to help him but knew they were just both conflicted. "We're the center, no matter what right? I don't think why we did it matters at this point. What matters is that neither of us are moving to file paperwork and frankly we're sort of making each other miserable by not dealing with it."

He nodded as she spoke a smile finally forming. "Do you want to kiss me hand again? I think that's a good way to settle things." He teased and she laughed.

"I didn't kiss your hand to start with, you put it over my cup." He laughed and stood up reaching out for her hand. "Dinner? I think I owe you a million dinners after our date the other night. Brining up Caroline was probably pretty dumb."

"It definitely ruined the mood." She smiled as she took his hand and stood up. "I would like that very much. Thank you."

She looped her arm in his as they walked towards Founding Fathers. "You know Bones, I think we're going to be okay. I haven't figured out how yet, but we're going to be alright."

"We are partners, Booth. I can't imagine a world where we're not okay."

**So this chapter was short but I really wanted a sort of closure chapter that could make this the final of the story or could potentially be just a filler if I choose to continue. I have different ideas for it all the way through the finale of season 3 and then some honestly if you count my never ending world going on in my mind. Thoughts? Do you want to see more of this what if? I have a couple unpublished I've been writing on my own also what ifs from the series but I don't want too many in progress going. (thank you attention span of zero, I write a paragraph of one story then I have to go to another)** **Thanks for reading, as always!**


	7. Solidarity

|| We back with chapter 7 of should be ours! Finally gained some muse to write during this timeframe.

Chapter Seven || Solidarity

Dating, they were dating. Seeley Booth was dating his partner and loving every second of it. In an effort for some sort of normalcy, they had chosen to go on dates and completely start over on their romantic relationship. It didn't make much sense since his girlfriend was also his wife but they had found a routine of going on weekly dates and getting to know each other outside of their partnership.

For the most part it was working, they would work during the day or into the night and every Thursday they designated time spent on their relationship and nothing else.

"I just can't understand how you can completely wipe out your identity and pretend your past never happened." Temperance mentioned as she sat plates on the table, speaking of their current case of a soccer mom.

"Bones, that's work." He warned as he poured her a glass of wine as she rolled her eyes at him. "I know that but I'm serious. Look at my dad, he's completely remade himself a dozen times over the years and he's still in jail. I just don't understand how anyone can just pretend it never happened or just hide it from others."

She shrugged and he frowned as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her head. "So this is actually about your dad." He murmured holding her tightly when she tried to protest and move away from him. "I told you, forgiving him doesn't mean you have to forget what he did. Amy Nash did what she needed to do to protect herself and her family and so did he. You can't hate him for that."

Temperance wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently. "I don't understand how you can always manage to say the right thing to me." She sighed happily as the oven dinged and she successfully managed to pull away from him.

Deciding to 'date' has seemed like a ludicrous idea at first but they were keeping things completely a secret and so far not one person was questioning it, and now she actually felt happy regarding her life. It had taken a couple awkward dates to realize that they were both over thinking things. Instead of just being themselves they were focusing on their marriage and letting it rule their relationship and it wasn't working. Once they decided to basically forget about being married they realized that a relationship was actually quite doable.

"Can I convince you to stay tonight?" She asked hopeful that she could get him into her bed for the first time since their first night together. It had been a rule at the very beginning that they were going to focus on their relationship emotionally and leave the sexual aspect out of it. Despite agreeing to the rule, she had been trying to talk him out of it since that very moment.

"What do you mean by stay?" He asked, his eyes narrowed towards her but a smirk on his lips. She rolled her eyes and took a drink from her wine glass.

"I mean what the very question asks, Booth. If you will stay here, with me, tonight." She said slowly as she leaned towards him. "I didn't ask you to have sex with me, just if you'd stay the night with me." She laughed lightly as he got up from the table and shook his head. "Hey!"

"We agreed Bones, no sex until we're comfortable with our relationship. If I stay here tonight I know exactly what you're going to try and do and I am not going to let you." He shook his head again as she got up and walked towards him. "You think you can seduce me and you will most definitely succeed. So no, not doing it."

She pouted as she ran her hands under his shirt and looked into his eyes. "But Booth, what if I promise not to seduce you. What if I just want you to sleep next to me? I am fully capable of being innocent." She whispered as she pulled him closer to kiss him. "Please."

He groaned as he ran his fingers through her hair. "I don't believe for a second you can be innocent here, Bones." His self control was weakening as he played with a strand of her chestnut hair. "Fine, but we are only sleeping. Just sleeping, Dr. Brennan." Booth whispered to her as his hand fell to the arch of her back.

"Sleeping and kissing." She countered as she kissed at his neck. "Sleeping and kissing but no intercourse."

He groaned and looked up at the ceiling for help and strength. "Fine."


	8. Laws of Physics

so a lot of this story has to do with different episodes throughout season 3 and then random chapters don't, this one happens to grace over two episodes back to back. One because I wanted to write the roleplay scene and two because Sweets deserved an appearance. hope you enjoy!

Chapter Eight Laws of Physics

Booth groaned as they stood in the hotel lobby not liking where this meeting was going. Their case involved a dead guy who seemingly lived his life like a horse and now he was learning more about the fantasy than he ever wanted. "So this is some kind of sex thing?" He asked not sure he wanted to know the answer. "How did you get there so quickly?" His partner asked and he shrugged. "He said fantasy, I just made the leap."

They watched the pony play from afar as Bone's arm fell on his as he turned to walk away. "If I were to dress in something like this would that cause you to have sex with me?" She asked and he coughed dropping his pen and notes.

"Bones!" He hissed thankful they were alone for the moment without any prying ears. She shrugged and motioned to the group once again. "It's obvious that they have no problems with having intercourse no matter how they go about it and I currently have a lot of problems with getting any." Temperance said with a small pout and he rolled his eyes.

"You even think of wearing chaps or a saddle and you'll never see me naked." He answered knowing that she was being as patient as she could be in their situation and he was grateful for that, even if she made it known every chance they had that sex was not in the equation just yet.

"Prude." She mumbled as they walked down to the group and made way with the interrogation. If there was anything that he wanted right now it was for this case to be over and done with. If not there was no way he was going to survive both his partner's insistence on moving their relationship into something sexual and the case itself.

They sat at their usual table at the end of the case discussing roleplay and fetishes and Temperance smiled at how passionately he talked about making love and breaking physics. "Yeah, Bones.. A miracle"

If there was one thing she had learned while they were discovering themselves as a couple nonsexually it was that he was the romantic one of the relationship. He was the one who thought of each and every scenario and put stock in their happiness. He wanted them to be strong and for them to work as a couple and she respected that. Even if she wanted more than anything to just have sex. "You're right." She finally said watching the shock wash over his face as he realized he had one the argument for once. "I will wait for our moment to break the laws of physics. I will be patient and not be persistent anymore. I trust you." Temperance continued. "I trust you."

Lance Sweets was not what the partners had expected when they were told they had to meet with a psychologist. He was incredibly young and annoying with his words and tried to act like he knew them already which did not create a good first impression for either of them. "I am the one who says whether or not you two stay partners. Your partnership is in jeopardy here, a little respect would be nice." The child doctor said as the two left the room in a huff as they went towards Booths office.

Once inside she closed the door in panic. "Do you think Caroline told?" She whispered as she sat on his desk. "She wouldn't tell the FBI would she and not tell us so that we have to see a psychologist?" Temperance panicked.

"What? No, Bones. It's a partnership evaluation; it's normal in the Bureau. Caroline wouldn't tell, if she was going to she would have done so by now." Instead the prosecutor just liked to bring it up single time he was alone with her to see if they were still married and just how that was going. It was quite annoying actually.

"Look, all we have to do is just be ourselves with this guy so he'll sign his piece of paper and let us go. Just like we've been doing with everyone else and it's working. Don't you think it's working? No one knows nor does anyone seem to even realize something is different between us." He wasn't sure if he should be worried or not that literally nothing was different compared to them not being together and now that they were sort of married and also sort of a couple.

Her lip was still sucked between her teeth in worry and he easily stood up and leaned over the desk to remove it, his thumb lingering at her bottom lip for a few seconds longer than necessary. "It will be fine, I promise." He whispered to her before sitting back down and she sighed before nodding and removing from her spot on his desk to the standing position.

"I'm going to head back to the lab, work on this homework." She said as she motioned the folder Sweets had given both of them. "I'll see you soon." Temperance smiled before heading out the door. Making it to the elevator she sighed, as hard as she and Booth had been working to be in a relationship, the fact that they were married still hung between them like a thick wall preventing them from really going anywhere. Yet neither of them wanted to actually confront the fact that they weren't moving towards divorcing or acting married - whatever that meant.

"You wouldn't even have coffee with me?" Booth asked, looking a little hurt as he leaned towards her during their next session with the boy doctor. "I said no more murders, not if we didn't meet at all." He said and she sighed and nodded.

"_Then fine, we could have a coffee. So that's clear then, we'd have coffee and that's our relationship, coffee?" _ She asked not liking the way that sounded either and was happy when Booth requested for them to move on, she wasn't sure how to think or feel. She hated Lance Sweets, that was one thing she knew for sure in that moment.

They retreated back to his place for a drink and she sat on his couch cupping the glass of scotch watching as it swished in the movement of her hands shaking just slightly. "If there were no more murders would we really just have coffee?" She asked after a long silence. "No us, no partnership, no" she paused. "No marriage?" She finally asked to watch from her side view as he put his glass down and moved next to her and moved her own to the table in front of them.

"Never. That will never be what we are, at least I hope not. Sweets.. Sweets he was just trying to get a rise out of us, don't put that conversation to too much value okay?" He whispered as he kissed her head and she closed her eyes at the feeling before moving away just slightly.

"Booth, I'm serious though. We're not dealing with it, we're just sort of stuck and by not dealing with it we're just going to make it worse when we finally do." She pleaded with him, frowning when he sighed.

"What do you want to do, Bones? Announce to the world that we decided to randomly get married? Get divorced and pretend it never happened?" I'm not just dragging my feet here either, I don't know what to do. Look, I thought we agreed to just see what happens with us as a couple and then go from there?" He asked and she shrugged.

"We're not getting anywhere, we've learned that we enjoy each other's company and have been on many dates and still want to be around each other, so I feel like we've accomplished something here. Yet, we're still married, that hasn't changed and it's not going to. Pretending it didn't happen is just making us both uncomfortable and you can't say you're not no matter how much you think you're not dragging your feet. Whatever that means." She huffed as she crossed her arms.

"Tell me what you want to do then Bones. Do you want to move in with each other and live happily ever after? Do you want to file for divorce? Do you want to go back to just being partners and nothing romantic between us? What do you want? Because I don't know here, okay? I have no idea what I want except to be with you, that's all I know even if I don't know what that means. I'll take whatever form I can get" Once again his passion came through his voice and she quickly pulled him closer to her and kissed him as passionately as she could.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just frustrated because it's always on my mind and I've never been in this position before." She whispered against his lips. "I want to be with you too, in whatever form we want to be together in. Even if that means as a couple who happens to be married but doesn't act like it or live together. Divorce for some reason just isn't something I want and I don't understand that either." Kissing him again she sighed. "I just want to be with you too." She reiterated and his hands fell to her hips and up her shirt.

"Okay." He murmured to her as his lips fell to her shoulder as he worked her shirt off of her. "We can do that. Just be together and maybe one day we'll figure it all out. Right now I think we've realized at least one thing." Booth continued with a smirk as he pulled her onto his lap. "We've played it safe long, or well I've tortured you long enough." He chuckled and that was enough for her.


	9. Growth

Posting twice in one day! Now that's a win for xxlovver. I really love this chapter and in my opinion it's the start of where these two really start to be a couple and start working out the awkwardness.

Chapter Nine || Growth

Halloween approached quickly signalling that the change of seasons was upon them. Holidays had always been something Temperance had swayed away from, something Booth had learned the first year they had worked together. Particularly Christmas with the disappearance of her parents but he had noticed that any holiday that signified any importance to family she often chose to disappear from. Every holiday but Halloween. Halloween didn't have any significance to family or tradition and well it was very fitting that his Bones loved Halloween. Who else worked with dead people everyday and didn't find Halloween to be thrilling, he wasn't sure he could think of anyone.

She had already told him that Wonder Woman was her costume of choice but he hadn't seen her in it yet, Booth being cheeky had chosen to be a squint and was probably looking forward to it far more than he should. He knew he wasn't going to get to see her outfit until the annual Jeffersonian Halloween Party the next and sighed as he flipped through the channels on the tv anxious to just see her in general let alone at a party.

They were doing as well as they could being a couple and navigating their partnership with a new sense of loyalty to one another. Caroline was still making sure it was known to him that she knew they were married and he made sure she knew that she wasn't really helping things by bringing it up constantly. The prosecutor didn't understand the situation anymore than the couple did and he really didn't want to get into it with her why they weren't moving forward with a divorce nor were they telling anyone they were at least dating.

It just sort of boiled down to being an it is what it is scenario and for the moment he was content with that. For the moment all he cared about was the fact he was falling in love with his partner turned wife and he liked that feeling.

Except they hadn't exactly said anything regarding feelings for each other, instead they more so just made out, had sex, and went on dates every week. They hadn't discussed what they were doing and they hadn't mentioned their conversation about how they needed to discuss things. Instead they were just sort of floating.

His phone buzzed with a simple 'see you soon' text signalling she was on her way over. They had taken to not being shy about wanting to spend the night together whether it be sexually or just the company of not sleeping alone. He loved having her by his side all night, breathing in her scent and watching how sleep washed over her so peacefully.

He replied the same words back to her, 'see you soon', three words they tended to use the most when ending a call or over a text. Smiling he quickly picked up laundry he had thrown around and settled back on the couch until he heard the jingle of her key unlocking the door. They had swapped keys a couple weeks ago, knowing it made things easier and also for safety reasons when it was obvious they were always going to find themselves in some sort of danger.

"Evening." He murmured as she immediately straddled his lap and he hummed against her lips in a happy greeting. "I didn't think you were ever going to leave the lab. I thought I'd have to come get you before too long." Booth whined as she removed herself from his lap and settled next to him.

"I was working on a fascinating set of remains sent to me from Brazil. I had planned on leaving earlier but I lost track of time." She smiled her eyes heavy with exhaustion from working and standing for so long. "I saw where you called, I apologize I didn't answer. I didn't have my phone on me until before I left." Temperance sighed as she settled in his arms content to just lay with him on the couch for a while.

"Are you hungry?" He asked motioning to the food in the kitchen. "I ordered Chinese." Booth continued, chuckling when she shook her head and allowed it to fall against his shoulder with a hmph. "You're beautiful, you know that right?" He added.

"I know." She quipped before sitting up just a little bit to look at him. "I do enjoy it when you tell me though." She whispered as he captured her lips in a sweet kiss. "I also enjoy it when you do that." Temperance laughed.

Things felt easy between them, not that they were ever particularly difficult but when she was focusing on their marriage and how her misunderstanding of her own actions things were stressed. Now that they had both decided to just go with it, she had felt herself grow to be happy with Booth. In previous relationships she had been terrified to give herself to someone, to let them be her happiness and her home. She had never given anyone the chance to sweep her off her feet and actually enjoy romance. In fact she had never believed in such a thing.

Not until she had met Booth, grew to know him as her partner and now even more so as her lover and in so many words as her best friend. "Stop staring at me." She pouted watching as his gaze never left hers causing the hair on her arms to raise in anticipation. She laughed as he leaned closer to her, his eyes still on hers and she pushed him away playfully before giving in and allowing him to lay her against the couch as he hovered over her.

"Do I get to know what you are dressing up as yet?" She asked her hands wrapping around his neck as he peppered kisses along hers.

"Nope. You'll see when I get there." He mumbled against her skin and she sighed choosing not to fight him about it in that very moment. Perhaps she could get it out of him before then. "Though I was kind of hoping you'd wear yours tonight." He added and she snickered and shook her head.

"No way, I'll show you mine when you show me yours." Temperance sighed. "Wonder Woman is not meant to be used as your sexual fantasy anyways." She added simply, gasping when he bit down on her neck in response. Squirming underneath him until he was pulling away she cupped his face with her hands. "If I knew the idea of the costume was going to inflict such a response though I would have worn it. Get it out of your system before you have to hide it in front of everyone tomorrow." Sometimes she hated that she was so happy in a relationship and no one knew about it. Not even Angela suspected a thing was happening between them.

"I think I can behave myself. It's me and my costume you have to worry about your reaction with." He teased pushing himself back down against her gently as he played with a strand of hair. "You're going to go wild." Booth added with a playful grin.

"I seriously doubt that." She deadpanned and he growled burying his head into her chest as her laugh filled the apartment.


	10. Like the back of my hand

Here is a cute little drabble for chapter ten, only like 600 words but I loved the cuteness of the episode between these two. For those that also read Once in a Lifetime there won't be an update this week as I am going out of town and haven't quite finished it. I'm going to shoot for Monday or Tuesday though! Enjoy your week and as always thanks for the reviews and kindness! - side note on my tumblr in my bio I have my asks open for prompts for other little drabbles I'll be posting there and probably in a running one shot collections on here. I'd love some ideas!

Chapter Ten || Like the Back of my Hand

He rushed into Bone's office, face pale as he sat down in front of her desk. "What's wrong?" She asked leaning forward towards him and he sighed.

"Cam's sister kissed me! She just laid one on me when we were waiting on Cam!" They hadn't left on his "date" yet with Cam. He had consulted Bones about it as soon as Cam approached him and he had been surprised when she was okay with him pretending to be her boyfriend for a family function.

Once the kiss happened he had pretty much bolted into the office and hadn't seen either Saroyan since. "She kissed me! I didn't want her to do so. I didn't kiss her back either. Promise."

Once again in his surprise she laughed and shook her head. "I am not surprised that an attractive woman kissed an attractive man, however if she knew you were dating Cam I don't understand why she would do that. That doesn't seem okay." She said with the adorable confused look on her face and he shook his head before letting out a slow breath.

"I should probably go shouldn't I?" He asked looking out the glass doors to Cam and Felicia walking towards the office. "Yeah I should go. I'll call you." Booth stated as he walked towards the doors before turning to her once again. "See you soon, Bones."

That sat in his darkened office at the FBI paper cups laying everywhere as he made fun of her sudden inability to smash them with her fist. "This is your fault, you told me this wasn't going to give me a headache in the morning."

He chuckled and sent her his charming smile. "It's not the morning yet, Bones." He teased as he pushed the bottle to the side for a moment. "Thank you for being okay with the whole Cam thing. I didn't want to put you in a bad spot with it but she asked."

Shaking her head she toyed with an empty cup. "While I admit it did make me a little uncomfortable knowing you were going out with another woman, I understand why she wanted you to go with her and why you agreed." She smiled slightly. "I guess it comes with the territory of being in a clandestine affair."

Sitting up straighter she bit her lip. "Though with how well this is going, I was wondering if at some point you would want to tell people we're dating? Cam, Angela, of course Hodgins would know the second Angela knows, Zach.." She asked watching as he immediately shot up in his seat and adjusted his loosened tie.

"I don't know Bones, I kind of just want to keep this between us. Not that I'm ashamed of you or anything but I don't know. I just don't want to tell people." He answered and she simply nodded her head unsure of what to say or how to reply. Of course she didn't want to push him to say anything about their relationship but there was something about not saying anything that didn't sit well with her either. Neither of them were very public people for the most part but she still wondered why no one would know they were at least dating.

"So, uh" She stammered. "How did you know my passwords?" Temperance finally asked unsure of where to take the conversation at this point without completely changing the subjects. "My flowers, planets, you know everything." She continued though she already knew the answer. She could answer the same questions about him.

"That's easy, Bones." Booth smiled. "I know you like the back of my hand."


	11. Smurfette

Chapter Eleven || Smurfette

Booth knew he was taking a risk when he walked into the toy store looking for smurf figurines. He and Bones had been going through this rough spot for far too long and he knew that there wasn't a way he was going to make laughing at her embarrassing moment better. What he did know was that he hated that she preferred Smurfette and not Brainy Smurf.

Staring at the display cases of all the tiny figurines he picked up one of each. Smurfette symbolized beauty and the standards the world held on women while Brainy Smurf was nerdy and didn't have anything particular going for him. It bugged him that Bones didn't like Brainy Smurf and he put Smurfette back on the shelf, she'd probably hate him for not buying the one she wanted, but he had a plan.

They were continuing to do well at dating and keeping their relationship a secret. There was a particular romance to hiding their true feelings from their friends, but he also knew that there was a part of her that wished she could talk about him to someone. They both knew that after working so closely together that going from partners to husband and wife was a giant leap and now backtracking to just dating, well it would be confusing for anyone not just them. Booth knew that she did well with hiding how she felt, but he couldn't help but stand back and wait for the volcano to rupture with everything she was holding. He was not ready to be burnt by that lava.

He knew he was the one who put silence on their relationship, he didn't want anyone to know that they were dating and he had very valid reasons for that. The second one other person knew the entire team would soon and they would never have a moment to themselves again. There was also the grand secret of their marriage that he feared would come out the second people knew they were dating. Of course he wasn't sure how that would happen, but the subject of the true status of their relationship was one that didn't come up often. They avoided it very well.

Fingering the figurine he put it in his pocket after he paid for it and smiled as he walked out of the store. They hadn't been having a good few days ever sense Sweets made them tell embarrassing anecdotes about their childhoods. Meeting with that kid was like going into hell every time he entered the room and he cursed the FBI for making them see him once a week. He hated him even more for having so much power over them and knew that it would take one phone call for their partnership to be disbanded. He really disliked Lance Sweets.

Of course he knew that Brennan had a hard childhood and sure maybe she was right that he was 'that jock' in high school and well he hadn't changed too much since then. However that didn't mean that he wasn't immune to embarrassing stories, he just couldn't for the life of him think of any that would make her feel better after he stupidly laughed at hers.

"Well Smurfette was a stupid, shallow Smurf who only had her looks. Look, you're better than Smurfette. You have your looks and a whole lot more." He grinned at her holding out the figurine for her to take as he leaned across the table hours after purchasing it. "Come on Bones, I'm sorry I laughed and you're right about well, you're right about everything." Booth whispered. When she finally took it he laughed and sat back watching her admire it.

"I have my looks and a whole lot more?" She asked almost like she didn't believe him and he nodded picking up his fork to poke at his pie. "I suppose this is a valid form of an apology and I accept your gift as well. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He replied easily as he snuck his hand over to hers and squeezed it. The diner was relatively empty for the time of night and he needed her to know how sincere he was. Even if he was overly cautious of someone walking in on them. Booth knew she could feel his cautiousness too as she turned her hand over and squeezed his back before pulling it out from under it.

She smiled sadly at him as she admired Smurfette, delicately moving her fingers over the small features trying to distract herself from his fear of people finding out about their relationship. There was a lot at risk, which she knew and understood, she just wished that during the first time in her life where she felt happy and in love she could share it with others. Though neither of them had said the words of love or even hinted at it, she knew she had fallen in love with Seeley Booth and that she was wrong about it not being real.

Brennan just refused to let herself truly feel it when he did everything in his power to make sure their relationship was well hidden by every single person in their lives. Including his son.

"So I have Parker this weekend so I won't be able to see you much." He told her and she nodded already knowing it was his weekend with Parker and had made separate plans of her own. "Though I was wondering if you wanted to go to the zoo with us? Parker loves when you tell him everything about the animals." Smiling, she shook her head.

"As much as I would love to, I have a deadline for my book I need to meet as well as an article for Anthropology Monthly that I need to make revisions on. I also told Angela we could have a girls day." She had planned every second of her weekend knowing that one moment that was free she would let herself feel sad that she wasn't with her husband-boyfriend-partner-whatever, wasn't with Booth. If there was anything she refused in life it was to be dependent on someone and she hated that she had let herself be dependent on the man sitting in front of her.

"Oh, well I didn't know you had a lot going on. Though I guess it's good you have a lot to do while I have Parker." He laughed lightly and she laughed along with him though she was feeling less than happy inside. She longed to spend time with both him and Parker the way that they spent time together privately, but for now she respected Booth's wishes and knew that when the time came the wait would be more than worth it.

|| See You Soon is baaaaack! As we go through S3 and near Max's trial we're going to see some animosity between these two and I apologize in advance?


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